Ball Star's power rankings: Week XV

Every (other) Monday morning, a look at the top dozen teams in baseball ... and the best of the rest.

And then there's this: On July 16, six days after the All-Star Break, there are 11 American League teams above .500. In the National League, there are another 11 teams that are within seven games of a postseason spot. (The Royals, if you are keeping track, are somehow still just seven games behind Baltimore for the second and final wild card spot.)

Take out the current big three — the Rangers, Yankees and Nationals — and the standings are just one big jumble of 40-win teams. With the extra wild card in each league, it’s hard to know how the pennant races will look in September. But it could — emphasis, of course, on

could

— be unlike any final stretch we’ve ever seen.

Ranking | Team | Record | Last Week 1Texas Rangers (54-35) (1)

The Rangers barely held off the hard-charging Yankees for the top spot. And some of that credit can go to left-hander Matt Harrison, who threw his second shutout on Sunday in Seattle, lowering his season ERA to 2.87.

2 New York Yankees (54-34) (2)

The Yankees are now 33-12 since falling to 21-21 after a loss to the Royals at Yankee Stadium on May 21.

3 Washington Nationals (51-35) (3)

Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg lowered his ERA to 2.66 in a victory over the Marlins on Sunday — just another reminder of why the Nationals are still in control in the competitive NL East. As the Washington Post’s Adam Kilgore notes, Washington’s starters Jordan Zimmerman, Gio Gonzalez and Strasburg have combined to allow two runs in 18 innings in the first three games after the All-Star break. The bad news: Strasburg, in his first full season since undergoing Tommy John surgery, is now at 105 innings for the season … and may have somewhere between nine and 11 starts left before he hits his innings limit.

4 Los Angeles Angels (49-40) (4)

The numbers of rookie wunderkind center fielder Mike Trout were one of the topics du jour during the All-Star Game, but they deserve one more mention here. As of Sunday, Trout was on pace to bat .349 with 22 homers, 35 doubles and 55 stolen bases in 122 games. Really.

5 Atlanta Braves (49-39) (14)

Ben Sheets — yep, that Ben Sheets — picked up the victory Sunday in his first start since July 19, 2010. Sheets, the former Brewers ace, is returning from the second elbow surgery of his career.

6 Cincinnati Reds (50-38) (5)

The Reds finished off a sweep of the rival Cardinals on Sunday, staying atop the NL Central with their sixth straight victory.

7 Chicago White Sox (49-39) (8)

Left-hander Chris Sale has posted a 2.11 ERA, which would be the lowest single-season ERA in the American League since Pedro Martinez’s (ridiculous) 1.74 ERA in 2000. The second-best during that span? Zack Greinke (2.16) in 2009.

8 Pittsburgh Pirates (49-39) (11)

OK. Here’s the deal. To end their streak of 19 straight losing seasons, the Pirates simply need to go 32-42 for the rest of the season. That’s doable, right?

Right?9 San Francisco Giants (49-40) (6)

With all the hype about Melky Cabrera, All-Star MVP, let’s focus on another former Royal for a second: Outfielder Gregor Blanco has quietly batted .252 with a .340 on-base percentage and 15 stolen bases in 76 games. Blanco, whose career OBP is .353, has always been a solid on-base guy. It just seems that only now is a team finally noticing his worth.

10 Boston Red Sox (45-44) (9)

Little high? Perhaps. But the Red Sox have still outscored opponents by 47 runs this season — the fourth best run-differential in the American League. And at this moment, they are just 1 ½ games back from the Angels and Orioles in the wild-card race.

11 Los Angeles Dodgers (48-42) (7)

Injuries have decimated the Dodgers. But losing a series to the Padres, as they did this past weekend, is no way to keep pace in the NL West.

12 St. Louis Cardinals (46-43) (12)

Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, in the midst of a career year offensively, set a new career high Sunday with his 15th homer of the season.